High school dropouts face many challenges in today's labor market. From MDRC, this report offers early findings from an evaluation of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, which is an intensive residential program to reengage high school dropouts. It was found that the group that completed the program was much more likely than the control group to obtain a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.

Authored by Anne Sparks at Ohio University, this National Poverty Center Working Paper outlines the implementation of the ‘Within My Reach’ Curriculum in Oklahoma. The program is included in a week of orientation activities for new TANF participants at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. This paper provides results from interviews with TANF participants who participated in the program and findings suggest that this program has been successful in promoting relationship skills among this population.

The Brookings Institution authored this report on how postsecondary education can often be a path to economic mobility. Adults who have degrees from two-year or four-year colleges have far higher family incomes than do adults who have only a high school degree or are high school dropouts. Children from low-income families are less likely to enroll in either two- or four-year colleges, and less likely to complete a degree once they have enrolled. Researchers explain how increasing postsecondary education among this population can alleviate poverty and promote economic self-sufficiency.

From the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, this publication examines the financial constraints and choices of low-income families and describes the ways in which they utilize financial services. Authors also offer policy recommendations to distribute financial services to this population. Low-income populations are more likely to be unbanked due to financial institutions requiring credit checks to open an account, and having high minimum account balances and high overdraft fees. Savings and asset accumulation can often be key to promoting economic self-sufficiency for this population, and it is important to extend financial services and education to low-income families.

This issue brief is from HealthReform.gov, a Web site maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In rural America, around 50 million residents have challenges accessing health care and in recent years, poverty and access to adequate health care providers has been increasing in rural areas. Due to the economic crisis, rural areas are particularly vulnerable, and this issue brief offers information on the current state of health care in rural areas.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) conducted this analysis on disconnected youth using the Current Population Survey. In 2008, 1.9 million youth between the ages of 16 and 24 were disconnected, meaning that they were not in school or working in the year 2007. Authors find that a greater share of female and minority youth are disconnected and are more likely to live farther away from their parents and have their own children.

This resource was authored by the Finance Project and provides information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ARRA offers a variety of funding streams that can be accessed by asset-building leaders, and this guide is designed to help stakeholders make the most of the economic stimulus legislation by highlighting 16 funding opportunities.

The Federal Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Program provides eligible low-income families with an income-conditioned voucher that pays for a portion of rental costs in privately owned, affordable housing units. This paper extends prior research on the effectiveness of rental support programs in several ways. The analysis employs a unique longitudinal dataset created by combining administrative records maintained by the State of Wisconsin with census block group data. They use a propensity score matching approach coupled with difference-in-differences regression analysis to estimate the effect of housing voucher receipt on the employment and earnings of voucher recipients, and they track these effects for five years following voucher receipt.

This speech, given at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, discusses how the stimulus package addresses the policy needs of low-income working families. It focuses on three questions: how it might reduce poverty in the short term; how it might help position service providers for addressing poverty in the long term; and what researchers can do to inform future policies in this area. Efforts are compared to the following goals: increasing wages, promoting job stability and upward mobility, and providing income supports when needed.

This report was prepared by ICF International under a contract with USDA to analyze the Rural Development Multi-family Housing Program, identify problems, and provide recommendations for changes to address such problems. This assessment included 333 detailed field inspections and 32 market studies, and this report provides detailed findings and implications for rural development across the country.